Estelle Yancey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Estelle Yancey | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Estelle Harris |
| Also known as | Mama Estella Yancey |
| Born | January 1, 1896 |
| Origin |  Cairo, Illinois, USA |
| Died | April 19, 1986 (aged 90) Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Genre(s) | Blues, Boogie-woogie |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1950s – 1980s |
| Label(s) | Atlantic |
| Associated acts | Jimmy Yancey |
Estelle "Mama" Yancey (born January 1, 1896 in Cairo, Illinois; died April 19, 1986 in Chicago, Illinois) was an American blues vocalist. She was nominated four times for the Blues Foundation: Blues Music Awards, "Traditional Blues Female Artist."[1]
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[edit] Life and career
Yancey born in Cairo, Illinois sang in church choirs and learned how to play the guitar. Jimmy Yancey, who had traveled the U.S. and Europe as a vaudeville dancer, married Estelle in 1917, when she was 21. She often sang with him at informal get-togethers and house parties in the 1930s and 1940s and performed with him at Carnegie Hall, New York in 1948. Because Jimmy Yancey was a great boogie-woogie/blues piano player, Estelle recorded frequently with her husband. In 1943, the Yanceys recorded for Session Records, and went back into the studio to record the album Pure Blues for Atlantic Records. The session was just a few months before Jimmy Yancey's death that same year.[2]
Estelle continued to perform and record. One of the best examples of her soulful, expressive vocals can be found on an album for Atlantic Records, Jimmy and Mama Yancey: Chicago Piano, Vol. 1. (1952). Songs include "Lady Bump," "Devil Eyes," "Wizard Bump," "A-B-C of Love," "1-2-3-4...Fire!," "Big Bad Boy," "Baby Doll," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "I'm Knocking (At Your Door)."
Mama Yancey's recordings with other pianists include "South Side Blues" for the Riverside label (1961), some records with Art Hodes for Verve Records in 1965, and Maybe I'll Cry with Erwin Helfer for the Red Beans label in 1983, recorded at age 87.
Estelle Yancey died April 19, 1986 in Chicago, Illinois.
[edit] Selective discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Maybe I'll Cry | Blues | Evidence | |
| 1952 | Jimmy and Mama Yancey: Chicago Piano, Vol. 1. | Blues | Atlantic | |
| 1943 | Pure Blues | Blues | Atlantic |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards
- ^ Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia, page 532, (2001) - ISBN 0140159398
